Help Me Understand
by Hope Strong
Summary: Takes Place between Let Me Sleep and Mirror Moves: Bordering on Illegal, Wes does everything he can to get Jessica to be with him, determined not to let her get away, like Jen.


Disclaimer: The Power Rangers Time Force, Characters names, distinctive likenesses logos and all related indicia are copyrighted trademarks of Buena Vista entertainment. Jessica Smith belongs to me, she's not copyrighted, but I'd appreciate at least a credit if you ever use her.  
  
Author's note: This takes place about 8 months after the epilogue of "Let Me Sleep." Read at least that to understand better who Jessica is and why Wes is the Chairman of Bio-lab. Of course enjoy, Read and Review.  
  
Help me Understand.  
  
By Shirley Chong  
  
Jessica signed the papers after reading them thoroughly twice. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see she was supposed to have left two hours ago. It was 8:00pm. With a sigh, she picked up the next folder and was about to start reading when a knock on the door interrupted her. She looked up, to see her secretary looking in through the half-opened window.  
  
"Ma'am," he said with a smile.  
  
"Yes, Michael?" she asked sharply.  
  
"There's a package for you," the black man said. Jessica looked at him curiously.  
  
"Bring it in, then," she said simply, her attention returning to her papers only briefly. Michael opened the door to her office wide and let in a group of five men in white overalls who each carried five dozen red roses. Looking around at the roses with her eyes wide, she sat there petrified. Nobody had ever sent her roses, she was sure nobody had ever even had a crush on her.  
  
She eyed Michael suspiciously, for he was smiling at her with his unnaturally white smile. The men walked out of the office, and she was getting up to check the twenty-five dozen red roses she had now in her office, when the men came back with even more roses, this time pink.  
  
"What the--" she began, and looked wide-eyed at Michael who kept smiling. "You!" she yelled pointing at him.  
  
"I couldn't afford this ever," he said, shrugging.  
  
"I didn't say you sent them," she began. "But you know who did."  
  
"I do, ma'am," he said, doing his best impersonation of an old southern, toothless accent.  
  
"Who was it?" she demanded forcefully.  
  
"It was me," said a cheerful voice from the doorway.  
  
She looked in that direction to see her boss, the Chairman of Bio-Lab, Wesley Collins, wearing his shirt with the neck unbuttoned and putting his tie in his pocket. "You like them?" he asked with a charming smile. She opened her mouth, took a deep breath, couldn't think of anything to yell at him and closed it again.  
  
He smiled wider, her resemblance to Jen surprising and delighting him. However, after working with her for a few months, he could tell Jessica Smith and Jennifer Scotts were not - by any chance - the same woman.  
  
"You going to answer?" he asked, walking in, followed by a waiter and a dinner for two, complete with candles and everything.  
  
"Michael, please, leave us alone," Jessica asked softly, looking at the floor with a tragic face.  
  
"Okay," the secretary said and left the office.  
  
The waiter stayed by the desk, where he was setting a table for dinner, taking all of Jessica's papers out of the way.  
  
"Can you leave too?" she snapped at him. The man looked at Wes silently asking for instructions.  
  
"Stay and set that table," Wes said firmly.  
  
"Mr. Collins," Jessica began, raising her face defiantly.  
  
"Call me Wes," he demanded.  
  
"No," she said firmly. "I won't call you Wes, Mr. Collins. You are my boss."  
  
"Not right now, you're working on your own time, it's past six," he said calmly.  
  
"Mr. Collins!" she complained. She looked away from him, her face showing frustration. "Can't you see you are making it incredibly hard for me to work by your side?"  
  
"Why? Because I want to get to know you better?" he asked snappily.  
  
"No, because you want me to fall in love with you," she snapped back, her face breaking at the end of the sentence. She looked away from him and added, "I can't do that, Mr. Collins. Why can't you understand that I can't do it?"  
  
"Why not?" he asked, moving closer to her.  
  
"Because I just can't!" she said, taking deep breaths.  
  
"You don't even have a reason," he said, his hand finally reaching her shoulder.  
  
She pushed it away and stepped back. "Love is not good for the business," she said in a low voice. "Love is distracting, and it's a waste of time." He stepped to her again and she stepped back, as if scared. "I swore to my father I would never fall in love with anything but my work. That's the reason I can't love you, no matter how much you want me to."  
  
"You want to love me, Jessica," he said, moving closer to her and finally trapping her against the wall. "You want to love me," he whispered against her face.  
  
"Mr. Collins, please," she begged, trying to get away from his grip.  
  
Wes looked over his shoulder at the waiter. "Leave now." The man obeyed. "Now it's just you and me," he said, looking into Jessica's green eyes. "No one will ever know what we said in this room."  
  
"There is nothing to say," she said firmly, but not looking at his eyes.  
  
He chuckled. She was as stubborn as Jen. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, "Look at me, Jessica. Look at my eyes and tell me you don't love me, tell me to my face you don't want to love me."  
  
She closed her eyes, her lips trembling. "I can't," she admitted finally.  
  
"Why not?" he asked, caressing the side of her head with soft fingers.  
  
"Because it's taking all of my self-control to stay away from you," she said in a voice that sounded like a plea. "And you keep pushing, and I feel I'm giving in," she admitted, looking into his blue eyes, so close to hers now.  
  
"Then give in," he said, kissing her finally. He had let Jen get away, but he had no reason to let Jessica get away. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Jessica stood there petrified, not kissing back, trying to escape the feelings. She was a terrible kisser, for she had never kissed anyone in her life. When his lips left hers, she felt saddened, even if she should have felt relieved. She looked at him for a few seconds, as he smiled brightly at her, his breath warm on her face. Slowly a small, shy smile crept into her features.  
  
"Jessica." Wes began releasing her hair from the tight bun it was in. "Would you be my Valentine?" he asked in a whisper, pressing his forehead against hers.  
  
Suddenly, as if trying to do it before she could stop herself she hugged him tight. "I will, Wes. I will."  
  
"I love you, Jessica. Why can't you understand that?" he asked, as he pressed her tight against his body.  
  
"I don't know," she admitted. "But I hope you help me understand."  
  
"I will, baby," he promised, feeling the beginning of something special. "I will."  
  
The Beginning. . . 


End file.
